Compaq Presario 900 troubles

[murphyslabrat]

The Laptop runs fine, except for a regular clicking noise at almost inaudible volume. I could hear it having put my ear to the keyboard. It also gives a trace "burning-plastic" smell.

Here's a picture of the board, and the clicking/smoking appears to be coming from somewhere in between the battery, exhaust fan(not the CPU fan) and the power jack.
http://www.massonauctions.com/listings/3620.jpg

So, any ideas. I am getting a new exhaust fan to see if that is the problem, but there is another problem: the power jack itself is loose. There is up to 15 degrees of movement possible. So, could that be the source of smoke and (regular)clicking?

And, if the jack is the source of the problem, is there anything that I can do short of a new motherboard/laptop(one is just about as expensive as the other).

Thanks in advance for any comments/ideas/suggestions,
-Sam Hughes

 

[Blain]

You can get new power jacks at ebay for about $15 shipped.

 

[murphyslabrat]

O.K. question: how difficult is that to replace? is it a matter of re-soldering three connections(live, return, and ground) or is it more than that?

Secondly, how sensitive would that solder job be?

-Sam Hughes

EDIT -
The power jack I am talking about is thew one on the motherboard itself.